Naruto: Keeper of the Creed
by Prototype7
Summary: Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted. With his Brotherhood behind him, can Naruto peel back the lies the Templar's have weaved and free his village and the people he has sworn to protect? Naruto/ Assassin's Creed crossover. Rated M for Violence, Blood, and Language. Pairings TBD.


Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto, or Assassin's Creed. If I did I'd be minted!

"Speech"

'Thought'

~Written Words~

**Naruto Uzumaki:**

**Keeper of the Creed**

**Chapter 1**

Five year old Naruto Uzumaki slipped between the huddle of Ninja Academy students as they entered the Library building. The receptionist, a vile civilian woman, glanced at the aspirant ninja, but paid them no mind. As they began splitting up, Naruto, who went unnoticed to all, slipped down an empty aisle. He crept through the large shelf filled hall, barely making a noise. His destination was along the back wall, furthest from the entrance and the vile receptionist. Underneath the left side of the central staircase, between two book cases, sat a large framed picture of the First Hokage. This picture was like all the others of the Founder of the Hidden Leaf Village, but with one difference. In his right ear, was a small stud piercing. Depicted on the stud was an upside down V with curved ends, and the Leaf Village insignia inside it. This intrigued the ever curious Naruto, who after first seeing the strange symbol, went straight to the current Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, or the Old Man as Naruto affectionately called him. Hiruzen, who was taught by the First claimed never to have seen such a piercing upon his Sensei, and when Naruto convinced him to come see the picture in the Library, Hiruzen claimed not to be able to see the piercing, that to Naruto was as obvious as his own bright blond hair.

Frustrated by not having answers, Naruto spent much of his considerable free time into solving the mystery of the strange insignia. By asking the Old Man to teach him how to read, Naruto was able to start researching and digging into the past. In a few short months, Naruto had read just about everything ever written about the First Hokage and his Clan, the Senju. His search was fruitless however, as nothing he read contained information about the insignia, which led Naruto back to the portrait he was now standing before.

Glaring up at the picture that had been the driving force of all he had done over the past months, only to have gotten no further than where he was when he started, Naruto almost yelped in surprise when his vision changed. Gone was the usual colours of the world, leaving a grey background. Some of the books on the surrounding shelves glowed blue, whilst the Hokage portrait glowed gold. Concentration upon the picture, Naruto noticed the glowing was brightest in two different places. Climbing onto the wooden bench below the picture, Naruto ran his hands over the areas glowing brightest. When nothing happened, he frowned and as suddenly as it had moments ago, his vision was back to normal. Sighing in defeat, he grasped the edge of the frame, hearing the almost inaudible click. Pulling his hands away, afraid the painting was going to fall, he got ready to try catch it. After a few seconds, in which nothing happened, Naruto let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding. Carefully, he ran his hand down the underside of the frame again, and stopped when he heard the click. Doing the same at the other side, caused the whole painting to slide up the wall, revealing a single dusty slot, filled with a dust scroll case embellished with the same strange insignia from the portrait. Hearing footsteps echoing closer, Naruto almost reverently removed the scroll case from the wall and hid it in the large front pocket on his grey hoodie. Lightly touching the two parts of the frame caused the picture to lower back into position, and Naruto made a hasty retreat, using the overfilled book shelves to hide from whomever was approaching.

After his narrow escape from the Library, Naruto casually made his way home, making sure to be seen just enough to avoid suspicion, but not rushing so not to call attention to himself. As he climbed the last few steps to the door of his apartment, he head quiet muttering from within, and noticed the door was slightly open. He paused on the last step and listened.

"It isn't here."

"Damn. The little demon can't have gone for long. I say we wait for it. Give it a 'nice' surprise."

"Hah, yeah. We'll give it a surprise alright."

Tears welled up in his ocean blue eyes as Naruto listened to the three men inside his home. Suppressing a sniffle, he quietly descended the stairs. Walking along the second floor, Naruto wiped his eyes. It wasn't a new concept, people breaking into his home, but waiting to beat him was, and a frightening concept it was. Naruto knew of only one place where he would feel safe now, with the Old Man.

Leaving the apartment building via a window and fire escape ladder, Naruto traversed the village, keeping to back alleys and crossing open spaces by mingling with moving groups of people. When he reached the Hokage's tower, Naruto hurried up the stairs to the Kage's office. He paused briefly and gave a watery smile to Taka Ishikawa, the Hokage's secretary, who gave him a look of concern as he entered the office proper.

**Keeper of the Creed**

Hiruzen Sarutobi was sat back in his chair, enjoying an unexpected lull in the inflow of paperwork. He was contemplating reading a chapter or three of a certain orange book when his door opened, admitting a teary Naruto. Standing from his chair and walking around his desk was as far as he got, before receiving a crying five year old determined to vanish into his Kage robes. Holding the boy as he cried, Hiruzen knew he would receive an explanation once Naruto calmed down. The tears were a little concerning, Naruto hadn't cried like this since the first time some civilians broke into his apartment. Hiruzen sighed, closed his eyes and shuck his head, knowing this had something to do with the civilians again.

'Damned fool!' Hiruzen thought to himself. 'Should never have revealed the true about the Fox Spirit to the Council.'

Hiruzen was snapped out of his internal berating when he felt Naruto go lax in his arms, smiling down at the now sleeping boy, he lifted and carried him over to the long sofa beneath the windows. He removed Naruto's grey hoodie, noticing the weight and the bulge in the front pocket, but put it out of his mind, having spied Naruto in the Library earlier using his Telescope Jutsu, and assumed the scroll or book was about the past Hokages. Setting to boy down at one end of the sofa, Hiruzen sat at the opposite end. His gaze washed over the fitfully sleeping boy, his expression turned forlorn upon realising the majority of the boy's suffering was caused by his blind faith and belief that the Village would accept the wishes of their former Hokage, and see the boy as a hero for containing the devastation that is the Nine Tailed Fox. Hiruzen sighed and rubbed his eyes, he pushed aside the disappointment he felt, and the anger that rose with it. How could these 'people' that owed their lives and livelihoods to this small unassuming boy torment him for merely exiting?

Hiruzen was a man that could honestly say he loved each and every one of the citizens of the Leaf Village, and would happily give his life in defence of them, but with each attempt against Naruto, his grandson in all by blood, his heart and resolve hardened just a little. The kindly, grandfatherly figure he presented to the village would, if pushed much further, become judge, jury and executioner to any who intentionally or not, emotionally or physically, harmed any how he recognised as family, and Naruto was family.

Unaware that his wrathful thoughts were causing him to unconsciously release his chakra, causing the room to fill with the feeling of oppression. This oppressive feeling caused the Hokage's Guard, three highly trained ANBU operatives to appear in the room. Their sudden appearance caused Hiruzen's attention to shift to them. Their exposure to their Hokage's focussed chakra was only brief, but it had the potency and pressure to bring them to their knees. The oppressive feeling also awoke Naruto, who shakily spoke.

"O... Old M... Man?"

The scared tone of his adopted grandson's voice snapped Hiruzen back to the present, and the pressure and the oppressive feeling left the air. Hiruzen looked down at the shaking, teary eyed Naruto, and pulled him into an embrace. He then looked back to the still kneeling, heavy breathing ANBU. His dark thought had taken him to a place and mind set he hadn't visited since the end of the last Great Ninja War, something would need to be done about the state he had left the village become.

'The New Year is in a few days.' Hiruzen thought as he gazed at his shell shocked ANBU. 'A new year, a new start, and a new direction for the 'people' of this village.'

**Keeper of the Creed**

ANBU Dog had only seen his Hokage like this on two separate occasions before, it wasn't a coincidence that both incidents involved the small child currently trying to burrow into the Kage's side. The first time, when Naruto was only a baby resting in a crib in this very office, and the Hokage's secretary at the time tried to kill the boy. The second time, when a group of civilians broke into Naruto's new apartment and completely trashed the place, leaving nothing but broke furniture and horrible graffiti.

Dog and his two compatriots would be forever grateful to the boy for breaking the Hokage's focus, the sheer chakra pressure had dropped the three of them the second they entered the room, knocking the very air from their lungs. When the focus was broken, the three broke the stony, impassive etiquette of the ANBU by gasping, and gulping down hasty lungfuls of air.

"Dog, Tiger, Bird." The Hokage addressed them, sounding uncertain about their prescience. "Report."

Still breathing heavily, Dog, the commander of the unit answered.

"Lord Hokage, we sensed your release of chakra and came to investigate."

"And?"

"Sensing no danger we were about to leave when the pressure of the released chakra overwhelmed us."

Of all the possible scenarios flashing through Dog's head, the mirth filled chuckle from the Hokage wasn't one of them.

"Yes I can imagine. You three are dismissed."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

With a small burst of smoke, the three ANBU disappeared

**Keeper of the Creed**

The unaccustomed noise accompanying the technique startled Naruto from his hiding place within the Hokage's robes. Peeking out of the robes, his watery eyes gazed caught sight of the dispersing smoke, and the inquisitive spark returned to the brilliant ocean blue orbs.

Noticing the young boy had lessened his grasp on him, Hiruzen glanced at the boy. Noting his tear stained face, he pulled Naruto to him, stood and carried the boy to the back of his office into his private washroom. Sitting the boy on the counter, Hiruzen retrieved a small cloth from a cupboard under the counter, wet it, and gently wiped the tear stains from Naruto's face. This action caused a slightly disgruntled expression to spread across the child's face, which brought a smile to the elder's. Once finished, Naruto dropped to the floor and smiled up at his Old Man, glad he was back to normal, and not the scary one he was earlier. Hiruzen took Naruto's hand and led him back into the office. Sitting back down on the long sofa, Hiruzen motioned Naruto to sit. Naruto proceeded to clamber onto the sofa, then into Hiruzen's lap. He wrapped himself in the loose, baggy robes and giggled to himself. Hiruzen smiled down at the boy, happy that he could, after all the glares and inattention he received, still be a little boy and have fun. Hiruzen hated to interrupt said fun, but he needed to know why Naruto arrived at his office in tears. Wrapping his arms around the giggling boy, he asked.

"Naruto, what happened? Why were you crying?"

Naruto's giggling stopped immediately, and his smile dimmed. He pulled the robes tighter around his slight form and shivered a little. In a quiet voice he answered.

"Some bad men were in my home. They..." His speech was interrupted by him sniffing, and tears began welling up again. "They said they was gonna give me a 'nice surprise'. I got scared and came here." Naruto turned his teary eyes to his Old Man. "You keep me safe Old Man, right?"

The terrified body language and teary eyes hardened Hiruzen's resolve. He was going to keep Naruto safe, he was going to make changes, he was going to correct the course the Leaf Village had slowly slipped from.

"Yes Naruto." Hiruzen smiled softly down at the boy, he wiped away a stray tear that fell. "I'll keep you safe."

**Keeper of the Creed**

The next few weeks passed quickly for Naruto, his Old Man hired some ninja to pack up his apartment, and move it all to the Sarutobi Estate. He had been warmly welcomed by the whole Clan, something the young boy was unaccustomed too. It's here where Naruto was currently being taught the basics of chakra by the son of his Old Man, Asuma Sarutobi.

"Remember Naruto, chakra is like a muscle. The more you use it, the greater your control over it will be."

"I remember." Naruto said, smiling a mega-watt smile at the man he adopted as his Uncle. He was sat at the end of a small quay that jutted out over a large pond in the Sarutobi Estate grounds. This was Naruto's favourite spot in the whole compound. Asuma was sat, leaning against one of the end support columns, next to Naruto, as the boy tried to gain access to his chakra. He had managed small intermittent instances, but nothing like the flowing stream the scrolls he'd read described.

"Keep trying kid, you'll get it." Asuma said standing, he stretched and smiled down at his adopted Nephew.

"Ok, thanks Uncle." Naruto replied, not moving from his position.

Truth be told, Naruto wasn't just trying to access his chakra, he was trying to activate that strange vision he used in the Library. He'd looked over the scroll he found, but was unable to open it. He came to the conclusion that he needed to us the special vision on it, maybe then he'd know how it opened.

Sitting out on the quay, Naruto stopped trying to access his chakra, giving it up for the day. He considered going inside to examine the scroll again, but was too comfortable and at peace sat there. He closed his eyes, and centred himself, as Asuma had taught him. It was while doing this, that Naruto noticed all the sounds had dulled, the chapping of the birds, the fish jumping out of the water, even the noise from the hustle and bustle of the village. Opening his eyes, Naruto gazed around at a grey world. Various thing glowed various colours. The fish and birds glowed faintly red, turning around, Naruto could see Asuma, glowing blue, just before he entered the Manor house. Jumping to his feet, he started running, but stopped dead when colour returned to his vision and the sounds returned to normal. Realising he couldn't run whilst using this special vision, Naruto tried to remember how he felt just before it activated. Breathing deeply, Naruto set about reactivating the vision. As the sound dulled again, he knew he'd succeeded. Taking a cautious step forwards, expecting the vision to revert again, he was pleased when it didn't. He was now practically vibrating with excitement, which caused his vision to return to normal. Happy that he now knew how to activate his 'special' vision, Naruto hastily made his way through the Sarutobi Estate to his room. He smiled happily at each clan member who greeted him as he passed. Pausing at the top of the main stairs, Naruto glanced down at the group of clansmen talking animatedly about different ninja techniques. Activating the 'special' vision, Naruto was put at ease when all below him glowed a soft blue. With a shake of his head, he deactivated his vision and continued on his way.

When he arrived at his room, he dug out the box he had hidden the scroll case in from the bottom of the one of the tall wardrobes that flanked his bed. When he removed the lid from the box, he was nearly blinded by how bright the golden glow the scroll case was emitting. Rolling the scroll case over in his hand, Naruto was able to read an inscription he couldn't see before.

_~Where other men blindly follow the truth, remember...~_

"Nothing is true." Naruto spoke without conscious thought, the words just seemed to speak themselves.

_~Where other men are limited by morality or law, remember...~_

"Everything is permitted." Again the words were spoken without thought, but as the last syllable was spoken, the scroll case clicked and opened, allowing Naruto to unfurl the scroll within. Unfurling the scroll revealed a short missive. It had written:

_~My fellow Assassin,_

_ Upon reading this, you have been burdened with responsibility of being the last of our kind, the last of the Leaf Assassins. Let it be known that we fought to the last and took as many of our enemies with us as we could, but in the end, their power base had grown too great for us few who remained to handle._

_ Our enemy, the Templar Order, has infiltrated our village and spread their lies to the masses, the same people we fight to protect. The minds of people are fickle, and easily bent to the wills of those with the means and knowledge. And so it was, that we were undermined by those we sought guide and protect._

_ To cure the Leaf Village of the cancer that the Templar's are, you will need access to the Assassin's Bureau. Use the 'sense' to find the door. Rebuild the Brotherhood, and rout our enemy._

_Safety and Peace,_

_Kushina Uzumaki_

_Master Assassin~_

**Keeper of the Creed**

**Keeper of the Creed**

**Keeper of the Creed**

Hi Everybody, 7 here. Fear not, Crystal Fox will continue, I just seem to hate everything I write for it at the moment. I've gotten a few thousand words written for Chapter 3, but it doesn't seem to go anywhere at the minute.

Anyway, this is Keeper of the Creed, an idea that's been at the back of my mind for ages. It's only been recently that I've put enough thought into it for it to actually become something more than a vague idea on a notepad.

Hope you enjoy this story, please let me know.

7


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